Mount Shasta High pole vaulter Madeleine Moyer: The natural

Wednesday

Jun 4, 2014 at 2:44 PM

Daily News Sports Editor Bill Choy@SDNBillChoy

Editor’s Note: This is the first of four profiles on Siskiyou County athletes who earned first-place finishes at the NSCIF Track and Field Championships and an automatic berth in the CIF State Championships. Profiles on Clayton Bunn and Jena Turner of Yreka, and Eli Chapman of Mount Shasta will run in the paper later this week.

MOUNT SHASTA – Madeleine Moyer had never attempted the pole vault before this season but thought it would be fun.She was hoping not to embarrass herself too badly.To say she had nothing to worry about would be a gross understatement.In a short amount of time, Moyer, a junior at Mount Shasta High School, has proven to be an extremely quick learner. She broke the school record in only her third meet of the year and has earned a berth in the CIF State Track and Field Championships in Clovis, California, on Friday.Last Friday, Moyer took first place at the Northern Section Championships with a vault of 10 feet, 6 inches to earn a State berth. That height was two feet better than her nearest competitor.“It’s kind of a weird feeling heading to State,” Moyer said. “I’m still trying to learn the basics. It’s still all new to me. It's been surreal.”Moyer tried track and field in middle school but did not give pole vault a try. For the first two years of high school, she was on the softball team. She decided to take part in track and field her junior year.“I wanted to try something new,” she said.To add to Moyer's challenge, pole vaulters at Mount Shasta had to wait nearly a month from the beginning of the season to practice due to vandalism that destroyed their equipment.Since the track squad did not have pole vault equipment, Moyer began learning how to pole vault at the long jump pits. The pole vaulters got ready for the season using a rope to learn different techniques. When the new pole vault mats and poles arrived, it took Moyer a few days to get used to everything.“Once you get the basics down, it’s about fine tuning things,” Moyer said.Mount Shasta head track and field coach Steve Nesheim said the ease with which Moyer has caught on has been remarkable.“Our coaching staff knew Madeleine brought a lot of athletic talent, but her ability to learn technical events like the vault have far exceeded expectations,” he said. “She’s smart, has drive, work ethic and courage – just what a skill event athlete needs.”The Lady Bears have done well in the pole vault recently, with Janelle Jaegel earning a State berth the previous two years.Moyer thanked head pole vault coach Mark Vardenega for showing her the ropes and teaching her so much about pole vaulting in such a short period of time.Moyer said she knows State will be tough, but she’s just happy to be competing.The opening vault will likely be around 11 feet, which would be a record for her. Moyer said her goal is to make that opening jump. Regardless of how she does, Moyer said she hopes the experience will help make her better next year.“I think it’s going to be very eye-opening,” she said. “I’m just excited to see the top vaulters and see what they do.”